Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²And He called a child to Himself and set him among them,

³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless youchange and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me;

⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me tosin, it is better for him that aheavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸“And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into thefiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

¹¹

¹²“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost?

¹³And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.

¹⁴So it is not the willof your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

¹⁵“Now if your brother sins , go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

¹⁶But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ON THETESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERYMATTER MAY BE CONFIRMED.

¹⁷And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you asa Gentile anda tax collector.

¹⁸Truly I say to you, whatever youbind on earthshall have been bound in heaven; and whatever youloose on earthshall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

²¹Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up toseventy-seven times.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

²⁴And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed himten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵But since hedid not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.

²⁶So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

²⁷And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him thedebt.

²⁸But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundreddenarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

³⁰But he was unwilling,and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.

³¹So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened.

³²Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

³³Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

³⁴And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to thetorturers until he would repay all that was owed him.

³⁵My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from yourheart.”

¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD has commanded, saying,

³“Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp,

⁴and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodshed is to be counted against that person. He has shed blood, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.

⁵This shall be done so that the sons of Israel will bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field—so that they will bring them to the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

⁶The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the LORD.

⁷And they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.” ’

⁸“Then you shall say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,

⁹and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that person also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘And anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats the blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’

¹²Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who resides among you eat blood.’

¹³So when anyone from the sons of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, while hunting catches an animal or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dirt.

¹⁴“For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

¹⁵And any person who eats an animal which dies or is torn by animals, whether he is a native or a stranger, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.

¹⁶But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe his body, then he shall bear the responsibility for his guilt.”

¹If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

²If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

³And if I give away all my possessions to charity, and if I surrender my body so that I may glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

⁵It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

⁶it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

⁷it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with.

⁹For we know in part and prophesy in part;

¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.

¹¹When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known.

¹³But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

¹The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

²Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

³For I was overjoyed when brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.

⁴I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

⁵Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brothers and sisters, and especially when they are strangers;

⁶and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

⁷For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.

⁸Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may prove to be fellow workers with the truth.

⁹I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.

¹⁰For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.

¹²Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we testify too, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with pen and ink;

¹⁴but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.

¹⁵Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

¹There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

³A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

⁵A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

⁶A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.

¹¹He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will fear Him.

¹⁵That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁷I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

¹⁸I said to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as animals, they to themselves.”

¹⁹For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility.

²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.

²¹Who knows that the spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?

²²I have seen that nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His mercy is everlasting.

²The redeemed of the LORD shall say so, Those whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy

³And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty; Their souls felt weak within them.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.

⁷He also had them walk on a straight way, To go to an inhabited city.

⁸They shall give thanks to the LORD for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!

⁹For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And He has filled the hungry soul with what is good.

¹⁰There were those who lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains,

¹¹Because they had rebelled against the words of God And rejected the plan of the Most High.

¹²Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was no one to help.

¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.

¹⁵They shall give thanks to the LORD for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!

¹⁶For He has shattered gates of bronze And cut off bars of iron.

¹⁷Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their guilty deeds, were afflicted.

¹⁸Their souls loathed all kinds of food, And they came close to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.

²⁰He sent His word and healed them, And saved them from their destruction.

²¹They shall give thanks to the LORD for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!

²²They shall also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.

²³Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters;

²⁴They have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.

²⁵For He spoke and raised a stormy wind, Which lifted the waves of the sea.

²⁶They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like a drunken person, And were at their wits’ end.

²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses.

²⁹He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired harbor.

³¹They shall give thanks to the LORD for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!

³²They shall also exalt Him in the congregation of the people, And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

³³He turns rivers into a wilderness, And springs of water into a thirsty ground;

³⁴And a fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

³⁵He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, And a dry land into springs of water;

³⁶And He has the hungry live there, So that they may establish an inhabited city,

³⁷And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest.

³⁸He also blesses them and they multiply greatly, And He does not let their cattle decrease.

³⁹When they become few and lowly Because of oppression, misery, and sorrow,

⁴⁰He pours contempt upon noblemen And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

⁴¹But He sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock.

⁴²The upright see it and are glad; But all injustice shuts its mouth.

⁴³Who is wise? He is to pay attention to these things, And consider the mercy of the LORD.

¹The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

²One who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But one who is devious in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back, But the lips of the wise will protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean; But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

⁵A trustworthy witness will not lie, But a false witness declares lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge is easy for one who has understanding.

⁷Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge.

⁸The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, But the foolishness of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is goodwill.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.

¹⁴One with a wayward heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good person will be satisfied with his.

¹⁵The naive believes everything, But the sensible person considers his steps.

¹⁶A wise person is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered person acts foolishly, And a person of evil devices is hated.

¹⁸The naive inherit foolishness, But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil will bow down before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor is hated even by his neighbor, But those who love the rich are many.

²¹One who despises his neighbor sins, But one who is gracious to the poor is blessed.

²²Will they who devise evil not go astray? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.

²³In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is simply foolishness.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, But one who declares lies is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, By which one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸In a multitude of people is a king’s glory, But in the scarcity of people is a prince’s ruin.

²⁹One who is slow to anger has great understanding; But one who is quick-tempered exalts foolishness.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, But jealousy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹One who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But one who is gracious to the needy honors Him.

³²The wicked is thrust down by his own wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, But among fools it is made known.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

¹Now Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem.

²The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.

³Now Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he was sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.

⁴And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

⁵In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.”

⁶Then Solomon said, “You have shown great faithfulness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth, righteousness, and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great faithfulness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

⁷And now, LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am like a little boy; I do not know how to go out or come in.

⁸And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

⁹So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is capable of judging this great people of Yours?”

¹⁰Now it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

¹¹And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself a long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice,

¹²behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.

¹³I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.

¹⁴And if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

¹⁵Then Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants.

¹⁶Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

¹⁷The one woman said, “Pardon me, my lord: this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.

¹⁸And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.

¹⁹Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.

²⁰So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.

²¹When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! But when I examined him closely in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne!”

²²Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” So they spoke before the king.

²³Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ”

²⁴And the king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.

²⁵And the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”

²⁶But the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son, and she said, “Pardon me, my lord! Give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other woman was saying, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”

²⁷Then the king replied, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”

²⁸When all Israel heard about the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

¹Now in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they were eating bread together there in Mizpah,

²Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up, and struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

³Ishmael also struck and killed all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴Now it happened on the next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it,

⁵that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off, their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the LORD.

⁶Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!”

⁷Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern.

⁸But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have supplies of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

⁹Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck and killed because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had constructed on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.

¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put in the custody of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon.

¹¹But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard about all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done.

¹²So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the large pool that is in Gibeon.

¹³Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were joyful.

¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the sons of Ammon.

¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

¹⁷And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt

¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck and killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

¹Now looking intently at the Council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.”

²But the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?”

⁴But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?”

⁵And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.’ ”

⁶But Paul, perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

⁷When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

⁹And a great uproar occurred; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰And when a great dissension occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

¹²When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and put themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who formed this plot.

¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have put ourselves under an oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now therefore, you and the Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

²⁰And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him.

²¹So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are in hiding to ambush him, and these men have put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.”

²²Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

²³And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.”

²⁴They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

²⁵And he wrote a letter with the following content:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, after learning that he was a Roman.

²⁸And wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I brought him down to their Council;

²⁹and I found that he was being accused regarding questions in their Law, but was not charged with anything deserving death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³²But on the next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.

³³When these horsemen had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴Now when he had read it, he also asked from what province Paul was, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for Paul to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.